New Year's data surges 500% on Three's network

The amount of data downloaded on New Year's Eve via Three's network has surged by 500% year on year.

Three's smartphone customers downloaded 80TBs of data on New Year's Eve last year, the equivalent of 118,000 DVD movies being downloaded in a 24 hour period. This figure was up from 14TB in 2010. The jump in data downloads continued into New Year's Day, when 74TBs of data was downloaded, compared to 14TB in 2011.

Three said traditional mobile traffic increased but not at the same rate as data. SMS levels increased from 36 million on New Year's Eve 2010 to 46 million in 2011. Calls increased from 19 million to 21 million. The operator said Facebook experienced one of the largest jumps in traffic, up 20% between midnight and 1am on New Year's Day.

Three's marketing director Thomas Malleschitz [pictured] said: 'It’s a phenomenal amount of growth and shows just how much smartphones are changing the way our customers communicate. This kind of demand vindicates Three’s focus on building a network designed for the internet.

'It also shows just how important data bundles are becoming – and of course the value of plans which offer genuinely all-you-can-eat handset data allowances.'